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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Friday denied it was building a military base in the northern Syria Kurdish town of Kobane after videos circulating on social media claimed to show preparations being made for a base.
"When it comes to US forces in Kobane, there is no plan or intent right now to set up any base. I am not sure where those reports are coming from," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters during a press briefing on Friday.
Several local media and the US-based VOA reported on Thursday that the US was transporting concrete blast walls from Hasaka to Kobane in preparation to build a military base.
Kurdish forces in northern Syria fear Kobane is the focus of a possible Turkish military offensive.
Turkey-backed militia groups that call themselves the Syrian National Army (SNA) are attacking the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including frequent attacks in the vicinity of Kobane. The SDF controls most of northeast Syria (Rojava).
Last month, the US brokered a ceasefire between the SDF and Turkey, though Ankara denied having agreed to the arrangement. German and French foreign ministers visiting Damascus on Friday called for a cessation of hostilities.
US troops are on the ground in northern Syria as allies of the SDF in their war against the Islamic State (ISIS).
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